


Reunion

by AutisticWriter



Series: Femslash February [31]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Ruby (Steven Universe), Bigotry & Prejudice, Canon Dialogue, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, Episode: s01e49 Jailbreak, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash February 2018, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gem Fusion, Injury, Pride, Reunions, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:57:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: In which Ruby tries to find Sapphire when they are separated on the Hand Ship.





	Reunion

She’s in a cell. She doesn’t know how she got here. All Ruby remembers is being hit by that Gem Destabiliser and retreating into her gem as she and Sapphire were torn apart. She has been in her gem for however long she has been here, but she has her physical form back now. But she can’t work out how to get out of this cell.

Ruby hunches up on the floor of the cell, terrified by the huge yellow force field and wondering and wondering where Sapphire is.

How could they have split them up? Where is she? Ruby and Sapphire have been fused for so long that it’s actually quite difficult to cope when they’re separated. But they truly are separated this time. She doesn’t even know if Sapphire is in the same place as her. She could have lost her. She might never see her girlfriend again.

They must be in cells rather than bubbles for a reason. Maybe they are going to be interrogated. Maybe they are going to be badly hurt. Ruby doesn’t care what they do to her, but she can’t stop worrying about Sapphire. What if they’re going to hurt her? She needs to protect her.

She has to get out of this cell. She has to find Sapphire. So Ruby gets up and approaches the menacing force field. She reaches out and touches it – and sharp, sickening pain shoots up her arm and through her whole body, threatening to damage her gem. So that’s what this thing is for. Just to make sure, Ruby touches the force field a few more times, but the same agonising pain hits her again. She cries out in pain, but no one responds.

Ruby groans in frustration and slumps back to the floor, punching the wall in a futile attempt to vent away her anger and fear. She has to find Sapphire. What if they’re hurting her? She puts her hands to the sides of her head and groans again, hating it when her emotions overwhelm her like this. She always puts her hands on her head when she’s stressed like this; something about the pressure she causes to her head making her calmer. But it doesn’t really work this time.

She sits there for who knows how long, until she’s startled by a timid voice saying, “Uh, hello? Are you okay?”

Ruby turns her head and finds herself staring at Steven Universe. He has a black eye. Has someone hurt him? Suddenly, she remembers a conversation Garnet had with Pearl and Amethyst long ago, about saving the reveal that Garnet is a fusion until Steven is old enough: in this case, his next birthday. But now Steven will learn that she and Sapphire are a fusion, running the carefully planned surprise.

“Great!” she yells, slamming her fist against the wall. The shock knocks Steven off of his feet. “This is just perfect!”

“Uh… do you need any help?” Steven asks as Ruby grabs at the sides of her head, teeth gritted.

It seems trivial in a situation as serious as this, but Ruby hates that their plans have been ruined. She hates sudden, spontaneous change. She hates it she hates it she hates it.

“No!” she snaps, before remember that this is Steven she’s talking to. “I mean… don’t look at me! Just go away.”

Ruby rolls onto her side, facing away from Steven. She screws her eyes up, trying to calm herself down. She doesn’t want to send herself into a meltdown, not at a time like this (and especially not without Sapphire there to help calm her down).

“Wha-?” Steven mumbles, confused by Ruby’s somewhat erratic behaviour.

But as the boy starts to walk away, something incredibly obvious and important occurs to Ruby. She opens her eyes, wondering how she could have missed it.

“Hey, wait!” she calls, turning around. She rushes to her feet, standing right in front of the dangerous force field. “You’re out! How did you get past the field?”

Clearly confused, Steven says, “Oh, uh, I just kind of—”

But then he raises his hand to touch the force field, and Ruby panics, remembering the agonising pain doing that caused her.

“Wait!” she cries. “No no no no, wait!”

And then, to her terror, Steven touches the force field. But instead of recoiling in agony, Steven stands there quite calmly, sticking his hand right through the force field.

“That’s… okay?” Ruby says, amazed. She watches weird yellow trails travel up Steven’s arm, the energy surging through him making his entire body vibrate. She’s never seen anything like it. Wondering if the force fields have changed all of a sudden, Ruby tries to copy him. But the pain shoots through her arm again and she yelps, shaking her sore arm. “What’s going on?”

Steven looks like he might reply, but Ruby gets completely distracted. Because, suddenly, she hears the most beautiful singing. And she gasps, knowing there is only one gem who can sing like that. It’s Sapphire. It’s Sapphire!

“Somebody’s singing,” Steven says, entranced by the beautiful singing.

“Sapphire,” Ruby whispers. She turns to Steven and such fear pours out of her as she says, “Let me out of here! Please, I need to find Sapphire.”

“Is she your friend?” Steven asks. He obviously doesn’t know about their fusion yet, because their real relationship would be known to him if he did. “I’m looking for my friends too.”

“She’s all alone!” Ruby cries, hands clenched. “I need to find her!”

“Don’t worry,” Steven says, smiling. “We’ll find our friends.”

And he steps into the force field, the yellow trails of energy all over his skin, his body trembling with the force of the field. “A-A-And we’ll d-do it together-er-er!”

Not even hesitating, Ruby slides through the hole Steven makes for her and goes hurtling down the corridor.

From somewhere behind her, she hears Steven say, “Whoa! Wait for me!”

She runs as fast as she can, hurtling through this terrifying prison filled with cells just like the one that held her. She clenches her hands into trembling fists, trying to stay in control. But she can’t stay calm; she can’t cope without Sapphire.

Ruby runs through a set of doors and skids to a halt, trying to focus on Sapphire’s beautiful singing and the direction it’s coming from.

“Hey!” Steven says, catching up with her. “Uh, my name’s Steven, by the way. What’s yours?”

But Ruby ignores him, screwing her eyes up and clamping her hands over the sides of her head, desperately trying to focus. She’s so used to being fused with Sapphire that it’s a horrible feeling not to have Future Vision. If she had it, she could find her. Seriously, she’s so stressed it’s a wonder she hasn’t had a complete meltdown yet.

“Quiet!” Ruby snaps, wishing Steven would shut up. She groans. “I can’t see!”

She turns her head from side to side, realising that the singing is coming from her left.

“This way!” she yells, and she hurtles off in that direction, Steven yelling in confusion as he trails after her.

As he follows her, Steven asks, “How many more gems are trapped here?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Ruby says. As horrible as it sounds, it’s true. Sapphire is the most important thing in the universe to her. Sapphire matters more than anyone else. Sapphire is all she can focus on.

Suddenly, Sapphire’s voice stops. Ruby skids to a stop.

“She stopped singing. Sapphire!” she yells.

Ruby starts running again, until she finds a corridor with a single cell at the end of it. It looks like important prisoners might be kept here. And Sapphire would certainly be considered an important prisoner. She gasps, running towards the force field.

But then she stops. “Oh. It’s just you.”

“Lapis!” Steven yells, and he rushes over to Lapis Lazuli, the real occupant of the cell.

Ruby doesn’t listen to what Steven and Lapis talk about. She doesn’t care. She grips her head and paces back and forth, grimacing and trying to focus on Sapphire and not her stress and fear and anger all bubbling up and nearly overwhelming her.

She groans. “I don’t have time for this!”

And she runs off again, leaving Steven with Lapis. She runs and runs, needing to find Sapphire. Where is she? Just how big is this ship?

Sapphire stops singing for a few seconds, and Ruby feels like she might collapse. But then she starts singing again, and she relaxes the slightest bit.

“Sapphire!” she yells, not caring if any of the people on this ship hear. She doesn’t care anyway.

She keeps running, and then she spots something blue. She stops dead and turns to see Sapphire staring at her. She gasps, so amazed she doesn’t know what to do. She really thought she might never see her again.

“Ruby!” Sapphire cries, and they rush towards each other.

They embrace, hugging tightly, their faces pressed together and arms around each other like they’ll never let go. Never has a hug with Sapphire felt this wonderful.

“Did they hurt you?” she asks. She has to know.

They pull apart, but stay close. Ruby puts her hand on the side of Sapphire’s face.

“No, no. I’m okay,” Sapphire says, and the relief hits Ruby almost as hard as the force field did earlier. She covers Ruby’s hand with her own. “Did they hurt you?”

“Who cares?” Ruby cries, and her eyes fill with tears.

“I do,” Sapphire says softly, and she kisses the tears from Ruby’s face.

And Ruby picks Sapphire up and spins her around, and they both start laughing and it feels so wonderful to laugh after all of this stress. And she twirls Sapphire around and around and Ruby is so happy to be with her wonderful girlfriend again and all of her stress starts to disappear and she’s so happy and content and their physical forms start to blur and…

And Garnet forms, still laughing, and jumps to the ground. With all three eyes wide and the biggest grin she has worn in a long time, Garnet looks at Steven and says, “Steven, thank you!”

“Garnet!” Steven cries, his eyes shining. “You’re a fusion?”

“Oh, I-I’m sorry,” Garnet says, suddenly remembering how all of this has spoiled the surprise the Gems were all planning. “We didn’t want you meeting us here like this.”

“Well, did I make a good first impression?” Steven asks, and Garnet can’t tear all three of her eyes from Steven’s black eye. It hurts her to know that he is injured.

“Oh, Steven,” Garnet says, putting her hand on the side of his head, loving how this boy thinks of other feelings before his own, even at times like this. “We already love you.”

In the distance, Garnet hears Jasper yelling.

“It’s Jasper,” she says. “Steven, find the others and get to the control bridge.”

“But I don’t know where they are,” Steven says.

And Garnet kisses his forehead, giving Steven temporary use of her Future Vision and showing him the locations of Pearl and Amethyst. She can tell that Ruby is very glad to have use of Sapphire’s Future Vision again.

Steven gasps. “Future Vision. Wait, are you gonna be able to beat her on your own?”

“its okay, Steven,” she says, thinking of the two gems that make her who she is and how they are always there, loving and supporting her and each other; she’s made of their love, after all. “I’m never alone.”

Steven nods determinedly and runs off to find the others. She’s so proud of him.

Just then, Jasper runs into the room. “Oh, great. You’re both out?” She glares at Garnet, looking disgusted. “And you’re fused again? Why? Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak gems stronger. Quit embarrassing yourselves! I’ve seen what you really are.”

Garnet chuckles darkly, frowning at the huge, imposing gem. She hates gems like this, the ones who hate fusions and make her feel bad to exist as a fusion.

“No, you haven’t,” she says.

And, using all of her musical talent, Garnet stands strong, proud of who she is, proud to be made of Ruby and Sapphire’s love, and starts to sing:

_“This is Garnet, back together…”_


End file.
